Women see off Kilmarnock

Robinson: We got punished

Motherwell 1-5 St Johnstone

Campbell in Toulon squad

Cup final tickets on public sale

Robinson: We deserved the win

Stephen Robinson hailed the character of his side as they bounced back from Saturday’s disappointments with a 1-0 victory against Partick Thistle.

It equalled the Steelmen’s club record of 19 clean sheets in a season whilst tightening the grip on seventh place.

And the Northern Irishman reflected on his side’s hard-fought win at Firhill.

“I didn’t think we started the game all that brightly,” he admitted. “Trevor has a great save to keep it 0-0, but after that we grew in to the game.

“We started to get some rhythm after the change of shape in the second half and I thought we were terrific.”

He added: “There was fight and desire to equal the club clean sheet record of 19 and we thoroughly deserved the win.

“Partick are a side throwing absolutely everything at us and I think the performance and the result showed our great character tonight.”

First team

Partick Thistle 0-1 Motherwell

Tuesday 08 May 2018

Motherwell made it a record-equalling night as they claimed a win and a 19th clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 win at Partick Thistle.

Ryan Bowman’s headed goal in the second half also made him the Steelmen’s top scorer in the 2017/18 season.

The first half passed relatively without incident, but Trevor Carson was called into action on a number of occasions.

With just eight minutes gone, the Northern Ireland international had to be alert to keep out Ryan Edwards’ header from Kris Doolan’s cross.

Just after the half hour mark, Carson was called upon again. Woods’ effort from outside the area was beaten away by the goalkeeper, with Charles Dunne then on hand to clear before Doolan could pounce.

The half time introduction of Gael Bigirimana and a change in shape sparked the visitors into life.

David Turnbull, making his first start, tied Edwards in knots down the right side of the area to create a chance for Chris Cadden, but his shot was blocked at source.

The youngster then turned creator. Motherwell won a free kick on the right side of the area, which Turnbull stepped up to take.

His perfectly floated delivery sailed towards a number of players in black, but it was Bowman who won the header to open the scoring.

The Steelmen immediately went on the hunt for a second. Curtis Main was next to try his luck, with his delicate chip from just outside the area just dipping over the bar.

With Cédric Kipré off the pitch receiving treatment, Thistle looked to capitalise. Christie Elliott was next to try his luck, with his long-distance effort swerving in the air and Carson coping well to beat it away.

Both sides continued to push forward. Thistle continued to find the odd pocket of space for shots from distance, however, which continued to cause concern.

The hosts then had a glorious chance with 10 to go. Kipré’s slip allowed Miles Storey to drive at goal down the left unmarked. With room to shoot, he aimed with a ferocious effort towards the far post but it fizzed wide.

With five minutes added on, Thistle pushed desperately to get at least a point to help them in their fight against the drop.

Two minutes in, they had their chance. Spittal found himself room with a header 12 yards from goal but he could only place it straight at a grateful Carson.

First team

Campbell: We’ll show togetherness

Monday 07 May 2018

Allan Campbell is calling for a strong response as Motherwell prepare for the short trip to Glasgow on Tuesday night.

Partick Thistle are the opposition for the Steelmen’s penultimate game of the 2017/18 campaign.

But following Saturday’s defeat to St Johnstone, the young central midfielder admitted it is time for the players to pick themselves up.

“The boys have got together again and we just need to get ready for the game tomorrow,” the 19-year-old said. “We need to prove to everyone that the result on Saturday was just a freak performance.

“So we’ll pick ourselves up and hope to put smiles on the fans faces again.”

He added: “It was one of those games when it wasn’t like us and it wasn’t good enough. We need to do what we’ve been doing all season and stick to that.

“So we’ll show that togetherness that we have all season and put in a good performance to try and make sure of that seventh place.”

First team

‘Players are good at taking responsibility’

Monday 07 May 2018

Keith Lasley says the players are well aware of how far they let standards slip at the weekend.

Motherwell return to action just three days later when they travel to face Partick Thistle on Tuesday, presenting the opportunity to immediately bounce back.

“That’s what football gives you, an opportunity to get back out there,” said the assistant manager. “Luckily for us we have another game on Tuesday.

“The good thing about our group is, they were as disappointed as anybody in themselves.

“It’s not often we can say that about them this season. They’ve had 18 clean sheets, they are one or two from setting a record. But they were defensively poor all over the pitch.

“The players are good at taking responsibility. They will. They are hurting but they are desperate to get back out there against Partick Thistle.”

Women

Eddie Wolecki Black interview

Monday 07 May 2018

The manager of Motherwell’s women’s side talks about his stroke treatment in the USA, his recovery and his review of how the team are performing so far.

Women

Women see off Kilmarnock

Monday 07 May 2018

Motherwell defeated Kilmarnock 2-0 in a top of the table clash to go five points clear at the top of the SWPL2 table.

The win at Braidhurst marked the third consecutive clean sheet for Eddie Wolecki Black’s side, as they continue to fight for promotion to the top flight of the women’s game.

However, it was the visitors that started the game more brightly, Clare Docherty was causing the ‘Well defence problems as she passed up two great opportunities to put Killie in front. Both were from one on ones, with Clare Johnstone in the Motherwell goal keeping them out.

As the game progressed, the women of steel eventually settled into the game and it became a well contested encounter with little separating the sides.

But at the tail end of the half, the Steelwomen flexed their attacking muscles and began to create the better chances of the half.

With 37 minutes played, Caitlin Russell was causing problems for the Killie defence on the left wing. She managed to fend off two defenders before working the ball to a shooting position, cutting in from the wing, with her driven shot flashing just wide of the post.

Just two minutes later it would be Russell who would break the deadlock for Motherwell. From a Hayley Cunningham corner, Russell towered above the Killie defence and powered her header home past the helpless keeper.

With the goal coming late on in the half, Motherwell would go into the interval ahead, despite Kilmarnock’s attempts to nick an equaliser just before the break.

The Fir Parkers came out for the second half looking the better side. Their early attacking pressure paid off when Cunningham slotted home Motherwell’s second of the match.

The former Scotland striker rounded off the perfect start to the second half for the ‘Well by finishing off a superbly worked goal after just two minutes played.

Captain Suzanne Mulvey done well to hold up the ball in the Kilmarnock box, fending off the defence before passing the ball back to the oncoming Cunningham to place in to the bottom right corner of the goal.

Straight from the kick off, Motherwell could’ve extended their lead with Lauryn Reside being played through for a one on one. Beating the offside line, she held up the Killie defence before letting fly her shot which unfortunately sailed just wide of the post.

What followed would be end to end attacking football for both sides, with the Motherwell defence withstanding the best Kilmarnock could throw at them.

On 63 minutes, Mulvey had the chance to put the game to bed. From a corner, she attempted a half volley from just inside the box, but she couldn’t keep the shot down as it flew over the bar and out for a goal kick.

The Steelwomen came close again from a free kick. Whipped in by Cunningham, Ashley Nicolson tried her best to flick the ball goalward, but the shot cannoned off the defender and Kilmarnock subsequently cleared.

As the game approached the final 15 minutes, Kilmarnock increased the tempo of the game by stepping up a gear to get back into the match. But despite their possession in the Motherwell half, they couldn’t find a way through to score.

With ten minutes to play, the ever dangerous Mulvey had another excellent opportunity to add to the Motherwell tally. Russell done brilliantly down the wing as she took it past two defenders to get her cross away at the byline and the cross would reach the feet of Mulvey, who couldn’t find the net.

Despite trailing, Kilmarnock had another excellent opportunity to get a goal back with nine minutes to play. The ‘Well defence was split open by a through ball in which Lauren Sloan got on the end of to find herself in on goal with another player in support. Despite this she opted to shoot and her shot was well saved by Johnstone.

It was yet another clean sheet for the resilient Motherwell defence, meaning its now 330 minutes since they last conceded a goal. Twinned with the clinical attacking prowess of the side, the ‘Well claimed what could be a vital three points.

Next up is Edinburgh University Hutchison Vale at Fir Park on Wednesday, 9 May.

First team

Robinson: We got punished

Saturday 05 May 2018

Stephen Robinson bemoaned an uncharacteristically poor defensive showing as ‘Well lost at home to St Johnstone.

The Steelmen have built a solid reputation for a team that is well-organised and difficult to break down.

However, the claret and amber men were disjointed and were picked apart by a Saints side who scored five at Fir Park for the first time.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen us defend like that this season,” Robinson said.

“Every mistake we made throughout the game we were punished. We’ve kept 18 clean sheets this season, but we didn’t look or perform like a team that has 18 clean sheets.

“The only positive I can take from it is that it’s not something that happens all that often. Sure, we’ve turned in poor performances, I think back to the Hamilton game a few months ago, but it’s not often I can be as critical.

“We can work on that though. We lost five goals from five crosses and we need to be, and will be, far, far better than that.”

First team

Motherwell 1-5 St Johnstone

Saturday 05 May 2018

Motherwell’s attempts to secure seventh place took a dent as St Johnstone put the Steelmen to the sword at Fir Park.

Goal difference keeps Stephen Robinson’s at the summit of the bottom six, but the Saints five goal haul has tightened the gap in the push for seventh.

With a game just around the corner on Tuesday night, Stephen Robinson gave Barry McGuire, Elliot Frear and Nadir Çiftçi a starting place, resting Ricard Tait and Cédric Kipré, with Ryan Bowman dropping to the bench.

In a crazy nine-minute period before half-time, a Steven MacLean double and another from Steven Anderson put Saints in the driving seat.

That scenario looked so unlikely as the Fir Park side controlled the first 30 minutes, with seemingly just a question of time before they opened the scoring.

Curtis Main in particular appeared hungry to add to his haul of eight goals.

The first threat came when Main’s low driven cross from the left was fumbled by Zander Clark on his goal line.

His best chance came after 15 minutes when Liam Grimshaw threaded a great pass into the box but having debated which foot to use Main finally hammered the ball off Joe Shaughnessy from 14 yards.

Cadden was the provider, finding Main from the corner of the box, but the former Portsmouth striker was unable to get the ball out from under his feet and his effort squirmed harmlessly towards Clark.

The pressure mounted on the visitor’s goal and around the half hour mark ‘Well forced three consecutive corners. Despite Cadden curling each of them into the goal mouth, Clark and his defence stood firm.

Within a minute, and in their first real attack, Saints showed them the way to goal.

The Perth men were allowed far too much time to retain possession around the home box before Richard Foster picked out the unmarked MacLean, who buried his header into the corner of the net and beyond Trevor Carson.

Four minutes later, Saints doubled their lead. The home defence failed to deal with George Williams free kick into the box and after Carson clawed away Murray Davidson’s effort, Anderson took advantage of a static defence to ram the loose ball high over the ‘keeper.

Before the 40th minute, Saints were 3-0 up. Matty Willock got in behind and his pass across the face of the goal found the unchallenged MacLean sliding in to force the ball home.

Not surprisingly, the ‘Well boss made two changes at half-time, bringing on Bigirimana and Bowman and withdrawing Grimshaw and McHugh.

That bold move might have been rewarded with a fightback, especially when ‘Well were unlucky not to pull a goal back within five minutes of the restart.

Bigirimana’s measured free kick from 30 yards had Clark scrambling to palm the ball round the post. Frear’s corner found Çiftçi four yards from goal and his stabbed shot was destined for the net until it smacked off the face of the unsuspecting ‘keeper and back into play.

However, any thoughts of a fightback were killed off when MacLean toe poked Davidson’s trundling shot beyond Carson to claim a hat-trick and ensure all three points were heading back to Perth.

Thirteen minutes from time, ‘Well managed to reduce the leeway. Main set up Bowman and when his shot rebounded from the crossbar, Bigirimana nipped in to nod the ball home.

Two minutes later, though, Saints substitute David McMillan headed home a terrific Foster cross back across Carson and into the far corner of the net to complete a miserable afternoon for the Fir Park men.

First team

Campbell in Toulon squad

Thursday 03 May 2018

Allan Campbell has been called up for Scotland Under 21’s summer participation in the Toulon Tournament.

The midfielder, who has established himself as a regular member of Scot Gemmill’s side, will come up against France. South Korea and Togo at the competition.

Scotland face Togo on Sunday, 27 May, before taking on the hosts three days later and then South Korea on Saturday, 2 June.

The tournament in the south of France is for players born on or after 1997.

Club

Cup final tickets on public sale

Monday 30 April 2018

Our public sale of tickets for the 2017/18 William Hill Scottish Cup final is now underway.

Motherwell have a maximum allocation of 15,000 tickets for the final with Celtic on May 19.

Our initial allocation of tickets will be for 12,700, with the potential to receive the additional sections B4 and B5 in the west stand, should we sell.

The club has until Tuesday, May 8 to request these tickets from the Scottish FA, or they will be reallocated to Celtic.

Supporters will be located in the west and south stands at Hampden Park. Ticket prices will start at £30 for adults and £15 for concessions.

Motherwell fans will be seated in areas A1 through to B3 in the west stand, areas P1 to P6 in the William Hill south stand lower and sections Q1 to Q6 in the William Hill south stand upper.

Tickets can either be purchased in person at Fir Park or by calling 01698 333333. Please note, phone sales will not be taken at weekends.